Starring:
Date: May 29, 2013
Summary:
Because the owl contact from the previous scene handed its mission over to Hiro and Nori, they've returned back to Toshiba Forest and grabbed Hiei and Misaki. They are to investigate contamination of the owl's drinking water (dead fish floating down a river). While headed upstream to find the cause of the dead fish, the group is attacked by an eagle scouting party. Hiei and Misaki take care of the eagles while Nori and Hiro use sensor skills to determine which side of a fork in the river the fish are coming from. The group eventually makes it to a mill with a broken down machine that should be cleaning the water.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Sensing an Owl Summons - Dead Fish"
Near Toshiba Forest, Konohagakure, Land of Fire
Last time on Captain Planet…err…wrong anime…but in all seriousness, Hiro and Nori ran into their intended target, the mighty screech owl scout deep in the heart of Convocation Eagle territory (convocation is a group of eagles), who gave them an environmental mission. The large great horned owl that had sent Hiroyasu and Nori to the screech owl had requested that the screech owl come back to the Parliament's nest (parliament is a group of owls) and help out with a drinkable water issue. The nest's water started showing signs of contamination when fish began floating past dead.
To Nori and Hiroyasu's, well I guess delight, the screech owl turned down the mission but asked them to do it in his place. Nori and Hiro said yes, and now they are returning to Toshiba forest where Hiei had remained behind to finish up a mission they were supposed to be on when all of this went down. (Narator takes a deep breath after all of that.) Luckily, Hiei has finished everything, so he is now free to join (should he so wish to).
Nori comes to a stop in the Toshiba Forest. The fires of the TFM's attack have stopped spreading and are now merely smoldering in place. This will actually be healthy thing for the forest as new growth will spring up aplenty. Nori takes a look around and then checks his supplies, "Hiroyasu-san, can you find Hiei-san please? I need to grab one or two things and then we can head out, okay?"
Hiroyasu nods his head, "Sure." he takes in a deep breath and shouts "Where are you, Ramen-breath?!" before looking at nori "If he's here, he will answer.. probably negatively" he shouted as loud as he could anyone in the forest could probably hear it. "So we have to help the owls more.. they sure are helpless.. or lazy" he mutters the last part.
A flurry of lightning needles pepper the area around Hiroyasu's feet. "I told you to cool it with that ramen breath stuff." He's hanging upside down on the lowest branch of a nearby tree that was untouched by the fire. "I was wondering when you two would show back up. Are you done playing with the owl so we can go home?"
Nori snerks as Hiroyasu calls out for 'ramen-breath'. Shaking his head, Nori pushes some things around in his burlap sack. He is about to say something when he hears Hiro's comment about the owls, so he responds, "Yeah, or just really busy. I mean, sounds like they've got their own war brewing too, along with a second issue on the side it sounds like. When you are already stretched thin, the worst thing that can happen is for something else to fall apart." Nori shrugs. Then the lighting needles come flying down, and Nori looks up. To Hiei, he says, "Ano…not quite. The owl we went to go see turned down a mission and gave it to us instead. Now, eh, I feel obligated to finish this. You feel the same Hiroyasu-san?" Nori stares back to Hiei, "Care to help out too?"
Misaki was sitting against that same tree. "I think ramen hair is more accurate." She winks at Hiei, looking at him being all monkey-like. Misaki did nod when Nori asks for assistance. "I'll help out." She muses. Also looking at Hiro, smiling at him briefly. "Owls?" She asks curiously.
Hiroyasu doesn't even flinch "It must have slipped my mind, yotsuki-sama" he says apologetically, before Misaki pipes up "Niisan, I didn't expect you here." his internal workings are shifting strategy to include the two barbarians, up until it now was Hiroyasu and /Noriyasu/ his mental twin in a battle of wits rather than brawn. "Yeah, Talking Owls. Konohagakure is a weird land.." he says shaking his head in disbelief at the things that go on around him. "Of course, I never leave a mission incomplete!" he boasts. leaving a mission failed was a different and separate story.
Hiei openly groans. "Geez, guys. I already saved the ninja owl's daughter thanks to Nori's sensing ability and now that's not enough, now they have a mission that needs to be done? They're owls..how freaking important can their cause be?" He stretches a little and then noogies Misaki for the hair comment. "That's mean, Miso." He sighs as he looks from Nori to Hiroyasu. "I know you both well enough to know that you're going to do this no matter what I say. So in the words of someone wise that I can't remember the name of, if you can't beat them, join them. I'm in."
"Very mean.." Misaki muses, throwing Hiei a wink. Before getting noogied. "Ow ow ow…" She waves her arms at Hiei, slapping at his hands. "You jerk!" She suddenly reaches around to hug him, before looking at Hiro. "Okay, so … what's the plan captain Yasu!?"
Nori eyes Hiei and shrugs, "Who knows. They're apparently at war. Plus, when someone asks for help in obtaining clean drinking water, I'm usually all for it." Nori smirks as Misaki makes a joke at Hiei's expense, but he doesn't laugh. That would just be too much.
"So, Hiei-san and Misaki-san are in too. Excellent. That will help us should we run into any trouble." Nori looks to Hiroyasu and says, "And you will be our sensor on this mission. I have a feeling we're going to need one to track whatever is happening to the fish." No sooner does Nori speak that suddenly that great horned owl comes crashing onto the branch nearest the group. This owl has speed (Ataru-like speed as it was described earlier). When it speaks, it is with a shrill voice, "You didn't find him?" It seems like she didn't expect him not to come. When Nori responds by pulling out the feather and saying, "He sent us to fulfill his mission in his place," the large owl looks furious. Still, she just nods and says, "Come this way then. I'm going to de-feather that guppy when I get my claws on him." Nori looks to Hiro and widens his eyes. She leads them all to the river where there are most certainly dead fish floating past. Nori looks to Hiroyasu and the others, "So, eh, how do we go about figuring out what's causing this?"
Hiroyasu looks contemplative, "A decent question, I would think we would need to find the source of the poison/toxin. It would have to be upstream." Before looking at Misaki and Hiei, this was not going to be easy before looking back at Nori "We could search, it might be a naturally occurring thing" he adds pushing the glasses up on his nose.
Hiei chuckles when the owl threatens to de-feather the other one. "I like this one." He comments before they arrive at the river to find the toxin or whatever it was they were looking for. He comments, "If I can't find it using my eyes, then I'm not gonna find it." He shrugs, "I'm just saying…but let me go upriver a little ways. Might spot something out of place."
Misaki follows Hiei around. "I agree." She muses. While Matatabi mumbles something about respect for ancient species and some other stuff Misaki couldn't care less about. "Lets just head up and see what's going on.." She turns around. "Although, I'd imagine it'd go a whole lot faster if we used one of those owls to fly us up!" She smiles and pokes Hiro. "CAN I!? CAN I CAN I!?" … "Pretty pleaaaseeeee.."
Nori nods to Hiroyasu and then again to Hiei. "Okay, so Hiroyasu-san and I will stay here for a moment, see if we can find anything out of place here. Hiei-san and Misaki-san can head upstream to see if there's something wrong there." The owl meanwhile flaps about over them all. As Hiei says he likes the owl, it stares at him for a moment, but then it tries to poop on Misaki. Luckily, owl poop isn't all that wet. Guess that answers the riding question.
When Hiei and Misaki go up ahead, they find that the river splits…but it seems that there are dead fish coming on both sides of the split. That can't be good. The fish at the split though aren't all dead. Some appear to be alive but very sick. Meanwhile, Nori looks to Hiroyasu, "See if you can sense anything biologically that might be living off the dead fish. You probably won't be able to sense that level yet…heck, I can't really, but it is worth a shot to determine if this is something natural versus something human-made."
RPCOMBAT: Hiroyasu defends against with a CHAKRA-SENSITIVITY…21
Hiroyasu strains for a moment till his face turns red before he sighs loudly "I can't, if it does exist it's being overpowered by closer sources" he says glancing at nori and the owl, before looking the direction of Misaki and Hiei. "If you can't do it, then who could nori-sempai?" he asks rubbing back of his head.
RP: Nori transforms into YAMANAKA-CLARITY.
RPCOMBAT: Nori defends against with a CHAKRA-SENSING-TECHNIQUE…36
Nori laughs, "I may be fairly strong as a sensor, but I'm still no master. I'm only 11," he says with a chuckle. Nori looks up at the owl too and then looks back to Hiroyasu, "Well, I'm not seeing anything either, so who knows. Like I said, hard to see the regular critters, let alone the super small ones." Nori thumbs upstream towards Hiei and Misaki, "Let's go on upahead and see if what they've found."
As Hiro and Nori head on up, Nori calls out to Hiei, "So, see anything odd?" At that time, a volley of shrill cries rings in the air. Eagles come into sight out of the crowds from above…and they are diving. The owl calls out "Scatter,"
Hiroyasu shrugs "Age does not define how well you can be" he says as they stroll down the stream, he is watching the fish gradually improve as they go up the river. "Interesting" before he is alerted to the attack from the owl, and he attempts to run for cover under a tree. "I wonder if they have anything to do with it, they have good reason and motive" he says to himself, being the detective.
Hiei calls out to Nori. "Lot of dead fish up here. Some of them look sick almost. I'm not a vet, but something about this stinks." And that's when the eagles start landing..or rather..diving. And when the owl yells for them to scatter, Hiei snorts. "As if." He widens his stance and bends his knees in a crouch. When one of the eagles dive for him, he springs upwards while cocking his fist forwards in an attempt to deliver an uppercut. Two forces in motion scheduled to collide head on. It won't be pretty for one of them.
RPCOMBAT: Hiei attacks with PHYSICAL…23
[NPC System]: Golden Eagle roll(s) Dive-Bomb from 15 to 30 and get(s) a 26. - Rolled by: Nori
RP: Misaki transforms into MATATABI-CHAKRA-LEAK.
RPCOMBAT: Misaki defends against with a DODGE-II…37
Misaki was walking near Hiei when the eagles start appearing. "Sonnova.." She gets down on all fours. "Let me show you my new trick!" She hops to the left, dodging the first swoop. She suddenly spouts a huge burning tail. "My turn!" She only glows faintly, this isn't like one of her going crazy mad moments, she's completely aware and seems in total control! The burning blue tail behind her functions like a normal tail. She jumps up, clawing at one eagle before hovering along-side another, making a corkscrew with her body, her tail coming down at the eagle to smack him to the ground.
RPCOMBAT: Misaki attacks with SHARP…24
RPCOMBAT: Misaki attacks with MATATABI-TAIL-STRIKE…24
[NPC System]: Martial Eagle roll(s) Flurry of Feathers from 15 to 30 and get(s) a 20. - Rolled by: Nori
[NPC System]: Martial Eagle roll(s) Flurry of Feathers from 15 to 30 and get(s) a 24. - Rolled by: Nori
The golden magnificent eagle that comes flying for Hiei actually has speed on his side. The eagle meets Hiei mid-air and the eagle is the one that seems to win, as it pulls out of the meeting with a flutter of wings. As it pulls up, it tries to grab Hiro while he falls with those talons of his.
Misaki on the other hand dodges effortlessly. Her opponent is a Martial eagle (which looks like the mirror of a bald eagle actually…white on the body, brown head). The Martial Eagle does manage to get clawed, but with a squawk and a flurry of feathers, it's not too big of a deal. The tail though doesn't exactly hit as those feathers now all hang in the air and resist movement somewhat. The Golden Eagle doesn't get hit, hoorah! The Martial Eagle makes another flap of its wings and sends needle-like feathers towards Misaki.
Meanwhile, Nori and Hiro get the heck out of Dodge. Both of them are cowering under-cover. Up above, the great horned owl and a giant bald eagle are doing battle in flashes of sparking claws and beaks. Nori says to Hiro, ~Quick lesson time…what the bass is going on with Misaki…and which one seems the strongest to you?~ Chakra sensitivity time!
[NPC System]: Golden Eagle roll(s) Talon Grab from 15 to 30 and get(s) a 25. - Rolled by: Nori
[NPC System]: Martial Eagle roll(s) Feather Senbon from 10 to 40 and get(s) a 23. - Rolled by: Nori
RPCOMBAT: Hiroyasu defends against with a CHAKRA-SENSITIVITY…34
Hiroyasu takes a deep breath calming his Zen even in these times of panic and strife. ~ The Lady Owl and her Opponent are vastly superior to the others, the Golden looking one is next strongest, with the one Niisan is fighting is weakest.~ Then he looks at what Misaki was doing.. it appears that the word secret is not in her vocabulary ~She uses some kind of kinjutsu~ before figuring out a better strategy, "Hiei, Misaki change opponents!" he shouts having sized up the enemy vs his teammates.
Hiei hits the ground hard onto his back when the eagle gets the best of him. "Are you *&^*(ing kidding me!? A bird!? A stupid bird just beat me up!?" He performs a few handseals before his body is surrounded by an aura briefly, but there is no lightning like the one he did before. He hears Hiroyasu and calls out to Misaki. "Tag out!" High-fiving her as he rolls by, his body blurs slightly as he attacks his new target. Those stupid birds were going to pay.
RP: Hiei transforms into RAPID-MOVEMENT-MODE.
RPCOMBAT: Hiei attacks with FLASH-STRIKE…36
RPCOMBAT: Misaki defends against with a WEAPON-BLOCK…22
Misaki was still suspended and thus she couldn't really dodge, something she's usually very good at. Her blocking however is… bleh. So that didn't work out so well for her. The feathers sending her crashing down. Though she finds her footing again. "Ropefishit, now you dunnit!" She jumps up, making a full spin while that same tail extends, trying to smack a whole set of birds to the ground so Hiei and Nori could turn them into chicken wings.
RPCOMBAT: Misaki attacks with BIJUU-CHAKRA-TAIL-SWIPE…28
It seems like the switch works. Hiei's attack hits the Martial Eagle. The bird goes flying into the river and gets swept downstream for a bit before it manages to right itself up and get out of the water. Hiei rushes down to continue the fight, effectively taking him out of sight.
Nori looks to Hiroyasu saying, ~Well put and well done. What sort of kinjutsu uses two chakra types?~ Yeah, it isn't hard to notice when Matatabi comes out to play versus Misaki's normal chakra. Hiro would note this now easily enough too. Nori lets it go though for now, looking to the fish. ~Perfect time to try to figure this out while we're distracted. We have a fork in the river…fish look to be sick and dead on both sides of the fork. Fish could easily swim up either side of the fork before dieing…so, we'll just have to figure out which side of the fork is more sick than the other. Remember that the chakra flow that is a slower, weaker Zen ripple is most likely the sicker of the two.~
[NPC System]: Golden Eagle roll(s) Feather Senbon from 15 to 30 and get(s) a 17. - Rolled by: Nori
Misaki's tail swipe manages to catch the golden eagle off-guard (most likely because who the heck would expect a jinchurriki here), and it is smashed into the ground. The bird squawks loudly and stays down for the time being. Nori calls out to Misaki and says, "Kill it!" Before she can get to it though, the great horn owl sends the Bald Eagle's body down right next to Hiroyasu and then is at the other eagle in a flash. Its large talons sink into the Golden's flesh, sending blood spurting out everywhere. The Golden Eagle dies quickly as its blood spills out from a main artery. The great horned owl shrills, "They followed you," she eyes and then shakes her head. "Nevermind now. Fix this issue and it won't matter."
RPCOMBAT: Hiroyasu defends against with a CHAKRA-SENSITIVITY…21
Hiroyasu watches as the switch happens and the better pairing sends the enemy into disarray before backup from the lady owl ends the fight before it starts. ~Alright~ he tries to see if he can detect the difference ~I can't feel anything except for niisan, her chakra is so strong and close.. I think I can taste it? is that possible?~ he tries again ~I can't tell the difference..~ he pauses a for a moment, ~That's why it's a kinjutsu, it violates normalcy right?~ trying to cover for her even though he doesn't know what she is either.
Misaki doesn't catch any bit of the interaction, her cloak dying down significantly. "Good, where to next?" She asks Nori, perching on Hiroyasu's shoulders. Now she's so close it's even easier to sense. Definetly 2 chakra sources. Though one of them is extremely calm, the other is skittish, like Misaki her personality. That's all such a basic sense could really yield.
RPCOMBAT: Nori defends against with a CHAKRA-SENSING-TECHNIQUE…64
Nori nods to Hiroyasu and then begins speaking normally again now that the immediate danger is gone. "Yes, she is very close, and yet so far away at the same time." Nori's curiosity is peaked. It is a good thing he doesn't know just yet. Oni are one of the few things he's prejudiced against. Nori takes a look out at the fish himself and concentrates, "The right fork is the correct fork. The fish in the right fork are slightly more sick, meaning that they've spent more time in the toxic waters than the fish that swam up the left fork." Nori shrugs and adds, "Let's head that way then."
As they walk, Nori asks, "Misaki-san…what are you exactly? I mean, you have two separate chakras…yours and another. That's not natural from what I've experienced." Up ahead there is a the rumbling of some sort of machinery and equipment. As the group rounds a bend in the stream, they can see a factory of some sort. Nori notes, "Up ahead…that's where it starts I bet." When they get to the factory, Nori again asks Hiroyasu, "Check the fish both before the factory and after and let me know what you think?"
RPCOMBAT: Hiroyasu defends against with a CHAKRA-SENSITIVITY…25
Hiroyasu says "It's not nice to pry into a lady's affairs nori. I told you it's a kinjutsu." not a very well kept one but different story. When nori asks him to try again, he does finding it difficult to stablize his Zen he gets a lot of noise in the signal but it's mostly clear "They are better before the factory, with my eyes and my mind that seems to be the case." He looks at Misaki, he has been downplaying it for her as best he can, as it was his team member being grilled, but deep down he was curious now that the differences in her zen were peeling back before his eyes. "We need to find out what is made here or rather by who" he says in a subject change.
"I don't know what you two are on about." Misaki says, half honest. Playing the fool has always worked for her. Maybe she'll tell her team what's up. Especially now she's more in control. More than ever! She doesn't really have anything to do now so she just walks around and looks good.
Nori looks to Hiroyasu and says, jokingly…"Who here is a lady?" He then chuckles and looks back to Misaki, "Sorry Misaki-san. Hiroyasu-san is correct. I shouldn't pry. It isn't my place unless you wish to tell me." He shrugs though. When the factory is deemed to be the source, Nori nods. "Well, one way to find out is simply to ask." Nori henges into an older version of himself…someone that looks like a villager…and goes to knock on the door. It cracks open and an old man says, "Are you with the TFM or the Daimyo's men…because my son already was taken for the Levy and I've got my hands full just trying to keep this darned mill running." Nori shakes his head, "No no, just some shinobi trying to figure out why the fish in the river are dying." The older Nori goes poof into the younger Nori and he points to the river. The old man sighs, "Again? Pacu. The machine keeps breaking down. Sorry. I unfortunately don't know how to fix it." Nori looks over to Hiroyasu and Misaki, "You two any good at machine repair?"
Hiroyasu shrugs "I put bodies back together how hard can a machine be?" famous last words, or rather likely the last time he had all his digits or limbs intact. Before he looks over at Misaki "I may need someone who can hit it hard, that fixes stuff all the time.. I've seen father fix all kinds of things at the house like that" then he looks back at nori who has been grilling her relentlessly before looking back at her "Unless you are worried about Hiei, you can go help him if you want niisan." he says kindly giving her either option.
